The 6-foot-4, 212-pound Brandon native made his CFL debut last night for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who picked him first overall in May's college draft, and the wide receiver hauled in six passes for a team-high 81 yards.

His 28-yard catch early in the fourth quarter led to Nick Setta's 13-yard, go-ahead field goal for Hamilton.

"The only thing that could've been better is a win, but I felt comfortable out there from the start, and Jason (Maas) threw to me a lot," Bauman said. "He had some trust in me, which is always good."

The Ticats organization even flew in his dad, Dave, for last night's game. Dave drove his son's car to Hamilton earlier this week thinking he would be a healthy scratch for the fifth straight game.

"It was nice to have him here," Bauman said. "I wasn't expecting that."

Maas was proud of how the rookie performed.

"He did awesome," Maas said. "He did exactly what I thought he would do. I told him before the game I had a lot of confidence in him.

"I knew what he could do. He's a big target, and he comes back to the ball hard. He did spectacular."

Bauman played nine-man high school football at Vincent Massey High School in Brandon and then went on to play for the University of Regina Rams. He took a year off from the Rams to play for the Winnipeg Rifles junior squad in 2003.

Last fall, Bauman led the CIS with 923 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns.

OOPS: Linebacker Toney Edison, a member of the Bombers practice roster, got Winnipeg a penalty late in the fourth quarter.

Maas got tackled on the Bomber sideline, and he flipped the ball at Edison, who was watching the game from the bench.

Maas got a penalty for his actions, but Edison fired the ball back at the quarterback and earned a flag for the Bomber bench.

LATE HITS: Bombers running back Charles Roberts, with 62 rushing yards last night, moved past Dave Thelen and into eighth on the CFL's all-time list ... The Ticats turned the ball over four times ... Hamilton had 393 yards of total offence.